Since its introduction in the 19th century, the field of photography has seen near continuous improvements in the associated technology. The introduction of the roll film in 1888, the introduction of the colour negative film in 1942, and the development of the Advanced Photo System in 1990 are all examples of the sorts of technological leaps forward that are characteristic of this industry. The introduction of digital photo cameras near the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century marked another substantial step in the evolution of photography, the step into the digital domain. Of course, in the time since its introduction, digital photography has made its way into cell phones, PDAs, etc., all of which has contributed even further to the growing acceptance of the digital photography worldwide.
One factor that has contributed to the widespread adoption of digital photography has been the steady improvement in editing software for use with digital photographs. This sort of software can turn a user's personal computer into a digital editing station and has made it easy to perform basic editing on and save such images.
The quality of digital photographs has progressed to the point where it is suitable for use in commercial settings where high quality is important (e.g., promotional photographs of buildings, objects, etc.) as well as non-commercial settings in connection with momentous occasions, vacations etc. Photography has always provided a motivation for people to shoot pictures of new areas, to explore the world and to chapter the world with photographs that can be shared with friends and relatives. An offshoot of this drive to innovate has been a desire in many users to create “fun” pictures. Although these pictures might take many forms, one popular sort of recreational picture involves using a photo prop to create a humorous or improbable scene, wherein the photo prop takes the form of a painted wood panel with a cartoon-like scene printed on the face thereof. The user then is positioned behind the prop and extends one or more body parts (e.g., his or her head, arms, legs, etc.) through apertures that have been provided in the prop for that purpose. The prop when photographed from the front then captures the image of a recognizable subject in the context of the cartoon illustration of the prop (e.g., the user might appear to be a lion tamer who is beset by lions, etc.).
Today it is possible to create digital images that mimic the use of physical photo props through the use of software that has been specifically developed for that purpose. More specifically, there are a number of software applications that allow the user to combine digital pictures with custom templates to produce novelty images which previously had to be composed physically or created by custom photo processing.
However, such computer applications are not without their problems. First, the user must select one of his or her own digital images from which the subject will be extracted. That image, though, will have been taken for another purpose and will likely be at an illumination level, or scale (e.g., at a different number of pixels per inch) that is incompatible with the intended template, or the size of the subject or photographic angle will not match that of the template's requirements. Of course, some of the foregoing problems may be corrected digitally, but that might require a level of sophistication beyond that of the average user. Additionally such computer-based applications require that the user be able to transfer the pictures from a digital photo device onto the computer, a task that may be beyond those users who traditionally give their magnetic cards over to a vendor to print or that use a direct camera-to-printer connection.
As can be seen from the previous description, the process of creating such a combined picture from an existing photograph potentially requires the execution of several complex steps. Further, the creation of such combined digital images is likely to be costly to the user both in terms of the software that is required and the time that must be invested in order to create a pleasing combined picture. Finally, the user will need to master the various hardware and software interface requirements of his or her personal computer so that pictures can be moved from the digital photo device onto the user's personal computer.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that increases in the speed and sophistication of the microprocessor resident within digital photo devices has created an opportunity for manufacturers to offer new function features and for independent software developers to produce software that further enhances the camera's abilities. Additionally, the computational power of digital photo devices has grown beyond the simple functionality offered previously by first generation photo cameras and now permits sophisticated programming and image manipulation to take place within the photo device.
Thus, what is needed is a cheaper and more efficient method of creating novelty photos. Preferably the method will be one that requires a lesser investment in hardware and software and that is easier to learn than conventional methods. Additionally it is preferred that the creation process provides for combining multiple layers into a single photograph and that the combined image—including that of the user—be available at least as a preview image in real-time while the image is being composed.
Heretofore, as is well known in the media editing industry, there has been a need for an invention to address and solve the above-described problems. More particularly, there has been a need of a system and method that allows a user to quickly and easily create novelty photographs without a substantial investment in computer software and hardware. Accordingly it should now be recognized, as was recognized by the present inventors, that there exists, and has existed for some time, a very real need for a system and method that would address and solve the above-described problems.
Before proceeding to a description of the present invention, however, it should be noted and remembered that the description of the invention which follows, together with the accompanying drawings, should not be construed as limiting the invention to the examples (or preferred embodiments) shown and described. This is so because those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains will be able to devise other forms of the invention within the ambit of the appended claims.